Taking in some culture and a lot of history in the Latin Quarter.

Today was dedicated to Le Quartier Latin, which normally is another destination that can be completely teeming with tourists, but this time of year and with these kinds of temperatures, it's actually quite pleasant!  

In order to reach the Latin Quarter, we passed through two beautiful areas of Paris.  

La Bastille, which I told you about in an earlier post

and Canal Saint Martin.  Here you'll find boats lined up on both sides of the canal for miles and miles.  The boat featured below was my favorite! 

There can also be found some very strange street art.

This one is a drinking fountain...yikes...

Look!  Another invador!  You can expect to see more of him, since he's everywhere!

Today, we also went to our first museum of the trip.  Le Musee du Cluny, which feature art and architecture from the 1st century up to about the 13th, give our take.  The best part about this museum is where it's located.  The collection is housed in a 1st century Roman Bath House!  Yeah!

Here are some cool exterior photos:

Here are some cool interior photos of the actual part that housed the bath house:

Amazingly, they the museums here in Paris allow pictures, as long you don't use a flash.  So here are my favorite examples of the art on display, that could turn out without a flash:

Serious Bling!!

After taking in a lot of history we made our to another spot that oozes with important artifacts and cultural significance, Notre Dame de Paris.

 Although photos are allowed, it just seemed wrong, so I took one picture of one panel of stained glass and kept my photo taking to the exterior.

If you look closely at this gargoyle, you'll see that it's an old woman with a cane.  How cool is that!?

This bird was just chillin, taking in the view with us!

All the culturing of the day left us completely worn out.  We went back to our nice, toasty apartment.  Picked out where we wanted to go for dinner and then promptly all fell asleep...one after another, sitting up on the coach, which was hilarious!  So, instead of going out, we all went to bed.  Unfortunately for Mom and Dad, that meant walking home the three blocks through the 20 degree weather to their own toasty little apartment.

Another successful day here in Paris!

On the agenda for tomorrow?  Versailles!  (You'll be happy to know that I got a charger for my iPhone, so I can upload some more food photos!  Woo!)  

A demain mes amis!

 

Freezing on Montmartre !

Bonjour tout le monde !

Our first full day in Paris was amazing and completely exhausting!  We spent the majority of the day on Montmartre hanging out with the other touristes, all 5 of them!  I've never really spent a lot of time hanging out in this arrondissement because it's always so overrun with people.  The secret is to head up the hill when it's about 15 degrees with the windchill!  We practically had the place all to ourselves!  

We took in the view of Paris at Sacre-Coeur.

Then went into the basilica itself.  The stained glass work inside is magnificent!  No photos allowed inside, so you'll just have to come and see it for yourselves!

 

Walking through the winding streets is really what made this day special.  We found some interesting little shops and really cool street art.  Check it out!

 

If you saw the film Exit Through The Gift Shop, then you'll recognize this art and the one above it as belonging to The Invador.  He's still ALL over Paris!  It's been fun spotting his artwork!

 

There is a story about this guy click here to read it!

On the way back down the hill, we stopped to snap some photos of the windmills of Montmartre, as you'll notice, one is more famous than the other!

By the time we got home, we all felt like we had walked about 20km.  We were frozen and exhausted and opted to stay in for the evening.  We listened to good music, had great conversation, ate 3 kinds of delicious cheese with a crusty baguette and finished off a bottle of wine.  

What a day!  Tomorrow promises to be just as culturally intriguing, but hopefully we can do it with less walking and from indoors!  BTW, I added some more pictures to yesterdays post, so go and check them out!

Nous sommes arrives a Paris!

Bonjour nos amis aux Etats-Unis! 

It's 7am right now in Paris and we can't sleep.  There were two things that we forgot to bring with us on our trip to Paris, the bottle of ambien and a plug to charge my iPhone!  Both are sitting side by side on the coffee table.  Oops.  Colin has been awake for nearly 28 hours before finally falling asleep for about 3 hours this morning.  I can't believe he's awake and he says "My energy level is awesome!  Tres cool!".

So, shall I tell you all about our flights?  Sure.

Smooth, fast with a few highlights.

As most of you may have heard, we left a day early to avoid the impending strike by the pilots, ground crew and cabin crew of Air France.  In doing so, we lost our nonstop flight and instead connected at JFK.  

The Delta flight to JFK was a lot of fun.  We didn't really have anything to watch since what was shown was on one of those tiny screens up above for us all to share, so Colin and I played scrabble the whole way.  I kicked his ass, bien sur.  Colin is shaking his fist and promising revenge as I type this, yes, he's sitting here with me.  

On the flight, we ordered a cheese and fruit platter, which was amazing for only $6.00!  It included crackers, brie, cheddar and havarti with two kinds of apples and a small bunch of grapes.  We washed it all down with a couple of bloody marys because that's how we do vacation time! 

After landing in JFK, we had about an hour and a half until our connection, which seemed like a lot of time, but we soon realized that we had to FULLY EXIT THE AIRPORT.... OUTSIDE.... SERIOUSLY... and re-enter, go through TSA AGAIN and then find our gate.  Not cool man, not cool!  We made it with about 5 minutes to spare and Colin didn't buy an I (heart) NY hat...though tempted he was!  I did however buy the most expensive bottle of water EVER:  $4.59 for a liter of Smart Water!  Ouch!

Next was the flight on Air France.  I was afraid at first that it wasn't going to take off, since technically the strike had already begun in France.  But the flight crew was amazing!  They were so nice and very generous.  Basically they just kept us liquored up so we wouldn't bug them! 

We ended up somehow getting window seats, which was cool.  Our whole section of the plane was mainly made up of about 20 teenage-ish boys wearing embroidered yamikas, heading back home to Paris.  It was fantastic to hear all of the French slang!  I was looking forward to hearing more, but they passed around a pack of Unisom and all simultaneously passed out!

During our flight, we not only got a meal, but were given a menu with choices!  Awesome!  I had the bolognaise pasta, Colin had a meat pie.  His choice was better than mine.  Each meal also came with a large, for plane travel, bottle of red wine...aka sleepy time for the passengers.

When we landed in CDG airport, here in Paris, it was like a scene from the made-for-tv-film Langoleers.  There was NO ONE in the airport, but us.  Apparently the strike did take place!  Being seemingly alone in the baggage claim of the busiest airports in the world was a weird experience.  All I can say is it's a good thing we didn't check any luggage!  We would have had to have worn our "plane clothes" for three days! 

Colin's turn:

We grabbed some monopoly money from the machine, then bought train tickets/subway tickets from a woman in a ticket booth and were on our way!  

We found our apartment building three blocks from our subway exit, after climbing an amazing FIVE FLIGHTS of spiraling stairs we were home!  We rang the bell and alas no one came to the door!  We rang the bell again.  and again.  Tired and with heavy luggage we started to worry.  Then my genius wife, Emily, looked under the mat.  Tres success!  

We were in!  At first, I was very worried because the apartment was about 30 degrees inside.  I got the heat going, but it did not seem to help!  No worries, it just took about 3 hours to get it going and now the place is super warm! 

We took a 30 minute nap and went outside to meet Emily's parents who had arrived about 3 hours before us and were ready to explore!  We decided to go to one our favorite restaurants first, Le Brise Miche.  Emily adds: it's located in the shadow of the Pompidou Museum. 

Back to Colin:  It was a nice hour long walk as we got slightly lost along the way, strolling by the Seine and the Hotel de Ville was especially exciting as it was sparkling with lights and there was an outdoor ice skating rink filling with smiling Parisians.  Sweet! 

Okay, I'm taking the reins again!  Ha!  

We stumbled into our old stomping ground, which seemed to have had a facelift!  They confirmed that they had just remodeled our little restaurant!  Spectacular!  We sat down at a table by ourselves in the back and a server, maybe an owner, quickly brought us all a glass of champagne.  It was on the house in order to celebrate their new opening, which was less than a month ago!  They also gave us a little appetizer of capicolla salami, shaved proscuitto and adorable cornichons...also on the house! 

Our server was incredible!  He and I spoke a lot in French!  I felt proud that he didn't automatically switch to English.  We starting it off right by getting a round of soupe a l'oignon.  I had the duck for my main dish, a tried and true French dish!  My dad also got the duck.  It was a first for him.  He tried to order it medium, but lucky for him, I intervened and ordered it bleu for him!  Colin ordered a lovely steak with bone marrow sauce.  Mom ordered les coquilles saint-jacques aka scallops!  Truly delicious!  For dessert, I had spiced, red wine poached pears, Colin had a lovely mi-cuit chocolate brownie with salted butter and caramel sauce and Mom and Dad ordered la creme brulee, it was Dad's first!  What a magnificent meal!  To top it off, they brought us a round of cognac, also on the house!  Spoiled!

Mom took a couple of pictures that I'll have to get from her to upload for you guys later!

What a first day!  Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow....today!

Les surlignages de nos vacances parisiens !

My how time flies!  We now only have 11 days until we arrive in the City of Light!
 

La vue sur le Musee du Louvre de dessus l'Arc de Triumphe.

  Colin and I have been furiously planning our Parisian excursion.  It's more difficult than it would seem to decide what to see, do and eat while abroad.  Since our special guests will only be with us for the first week, we've had to condense our heaviest hitters into the first 6 days since we want them to experience the biggest and the best that this ancienne belle grande ville has to offer, while not completely overwhelming them!  It's a very delicate balance!

We, of course, would welcome any suggestions or recommendations that you may have to offer, just leave a comment below!  

So, in planning this trip, I've spent minimal time on the specifics, instead painting broad strokes through the most intriguing neighborhoods.  

Here's our rough outline with a few highlights:

Day 1:

Montmartre

 

There are three options when trying to access the historic and beautiful neighborhood of Montmartre.  

1.  Snake up the hill through the narrow neighborhood sidestreets.

2.  Take the stairs...a great way to work off the damage being done at the Patisserie each morning!

3.  Take the funicular 

Once up there, our choices of what to do and see are so vast, that you'll just have to stay tuned to see what happens and what we discover!

Day 2:

Le quartier latin

It is believed that this area was first established in about 250 BCE by a Celtic tribe called the Parisii who built a small fishing village on the banks of the Seine, (pronounced sehn).   

 

The Latin Quarter got its name from the language that was once widely spoken in its streets when Latin was still the international language of learning during the Middle Ages.  Notice the narrow, medieval streets. 

Definitely on the agenda for this day is a trip to

  Le Musee du Cluny
This National Museum of the Middle Ages holds a number of pieces dating back to before the Middle Ages, illustrating the varied roots of medieval artistic creations.  The building itself used to be a Roman Bath House, dating back to the 3rd century CE!

Day 3:

Versailles

This amazing Chateau is located only 16 miles to the SW of Paris.  In his horse-drawn carriage, it took Louis XIV a whole day to travel between the capital city and the nouveau chateau.  He moved into the newly finished Chateau de Versailles in 1678. 

Interesting Fact:

The Chateau is one of the largest palaces in the world.  It has more than 700 rooms, 2000 windows, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1800 acres of detailed landscape.

It was in the Hall of Mirrors, that the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, after WWI. 

There are 357 antique mercury mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors.

Day 4:

Le musée du louvre and SHOPPING!

The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument, built in the 12th century.  

The museum's 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 652,300 square feet!

 Did you know? 

During WWII, the museum removed most of the art and hid valuable pieces in order to keep them safe from the Nazi invasion.




And now that we'll been cultured and art-ified it's time to hit the stores!

Les chic magasins parisiens

  
We'll be heading straight to Boulevard Haussemann in order to look around the famous stores found in this elite arrondissement.

Les Galeries Lafayette

Day 5:

L'Arc de Triomphe

This day will be made up of two Grandes Arches. The first one dates back to 1806. It is over 50 meters tall and 45 meters wide! If you have the leg muscles, you can also climb to the top for a spectacular view of Paris! You may have already seen a replica of this much adored monument since copies can be found in New York, North Korea and Las Vegas!

L'Arche de la defense

This arche was completed in 1989 marking the bicentennial anniversary of La Revolution Francaise.  It was constructed to have the approximate shape of a cube; it has been suggested that the structure looks like a hypercube projected onto the three-dimensional world! The Arche is placed so that it forms a secondary axe (axis) with the two highest buildings in Paris: La tour Eiffel and La tour Montparnasse.

J'ai pris cette photo de l'Arche de la Defense de dessus l'Arc de Triomphe

Not everyone thinks to take the train to the end of the line 1 in order to visit this super cool, super modern area, but I really like it!  It's full of weird sculptures, like the thumb shown below, and offers a MASSIVE movie theatre to its visitors.  Le ciné is even equipped with several bars!  

  
Day 6:

For this last full day together with our fabulous guests, we've got some ground to cover!  But, we've saved the best for last and are going to end this part of the trip with a band, well actually  it'll be more of a twinkle!

Le musée d'Orsay

This beautiful building, which houses a mind blowing collection, dates back to 1898, when it was used as a train station.  The collection held within dates from 1898-1915, which covers the entire impressionist movement, Degas, Gaugin and SO MUCH MORE! 

 

La tour Eiffel

I'm an absolute sucker for this one.  It's completely touristy and fabulous!  There's nothing like taking the elevators, which run diagonally up each leg, in order to take in the view of Paris from 1063 feet up!  Judge me if you'd like, I will go up EVERY time I'm Paris! 

It's even better after sunset when the tower twinkles like it's made of diamonds.  If you find yourself nearby during the tourist season, when the twinkling starts there's a whole army of trinket sellers who rush out with their blankets already preset with over-priced goodies, who then quickly disappear as the ten minute show comes to an end, only to repeat the pop-up process every hour; what a sight to see!

Quelle belle vie!

L'Onzième arrondissement

La Bastille

Now that you’re familiar with l'intérieur de notre bel appartement parisien, I thought I would introduce you to our surrounding arrondissement, called the 11^th or onzième, nicknamed La Bastille.

What's in a name?

The neighborhood known as La Bastille , pronounced (lah bas-tee), is named after a former prison, which held mostly intellectuals, anti-royal pamphleteers, activists, such as Voltaire, the Marquis de Sade, and oddly enough The Man in the Iron Mask, (who really wore a mask made of black velvet: less dramatic yes, but also less chaffing).

This prison was in use until the start of la révolution française.

The storming of the Bastille in 1789 is seen as the symbolic start of the French Revolution. The peasants decided that they had had enough of the feudal system and thus stormed the Bastille to free their imprisoned intellectuals and to collect the nice caché of weapons and ammunition also found within its walls. The Parisian mob tore it down brick by brick.

Today, a statue stands in the middle of the intersection in commemoration of the prison which once stood in its place and more importantly as a reminder of why it is no longer there.

Fast forward to 2012

The 11th arrondissement of Paris is an edgy, ethnically diverse area. It's a huge draw for students and fans of nightlife, offering a disproportionate number of the city's hippest bars and clubs.

Other significant sights to see around the Bastille:

Cirque d'hiver

Oberkampf neighborhood (vibrant nightlife scene)

Edith Piaf Museum

Maison des Métallos (former metalworkers' house; currentlyan arts and culture center)

Place de la République

Here's where you'll find us:

Nous nous parlerons en boivant une tasse de cafe noir.

Nous danserons en boivant un verre de vin (ou cinq).

Alors, venez nous voir!

(In 34 days!)

Notre appartement

Notre Appartement

May I offer you a tour of our chic Parisian apartment?

La grande porte

La vue de la salle de séjour

Ever wonder where Paris got its 

distinct architectural character?

Between 1853 and 1870 all of Paris 

experienced a major renovation led by 

Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann.  

The project encompassed all aspects of 

urban planning, both in the center of Paris 

and in the surrounding districts:  streets and 

boulevards were redesigned, regulations 

were imposed on facades of buildings, and 

public parks, sewers and water works, city 

facilities, and major public monuments were 

installed throughout the City of Light.  

 La salle de séjour

La cuisine

Did you know?

The pre-Haussmannian building is seen as a 

synthesis of the Parisian social hierarchy: the 

bourgeoisie on the second floor, civil servants 

and employees on the third and fourth, low-

wage employees on the fifth, house staff, 

students and the poor under the eaves. Thus 

one building was shown to represent and house 

all social classes. This cohabitation, of course 

varying from quarter to quarter, disappeared in 

its majority after the completion of Haussmann's 

work.  

This social stratification was captured beautifully 

in the fantastic 1930's film Sous les toits de Paris 

directed by René Clair. 

La chambre

La salle de bain

The only downside to our appartement charmant is that it’s a 5th floor walk-up. 

That's right folks, no elevator!

But you see, this is part of the plan:  I want to eat steak every day for lunch, have profiteroles for dessert every night, plus a bottle of wine or two a day, a sampling of fromage and for my ass to get fit by the time we get back from Paris!

Win-Win!